


A Heroic Persona

by Traveller_In_Spacetime



Category: Persona 5, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-08
Updated: 2017-11-12
Packaged: 2019-01-10 21:27:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12308121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Traveller_In_Spacetime/pseuds/Traveller_In_Spacetime
Summary: As this is a crossover fanfiction between the characters of Persona 5 and the world of Boku no Hero Academia, I heavily suggest you play or watch a playthrough of Persona 5 (Shenpai's at https://www.twitch.tv/shenpai is a blast), and also that you watch Boku no Hero Academia, both to make sure that I don't spoil anything for you!Anyway, enough of my rambling, I hope you enjoy the fic!





	1. Awakening

**Author's Note:**

> As of right now I'm lacking quirk ideas for a fair few P5 characters, so feel free to make suggestions in the comments or by directly messaging me if you can, and not just for the Phantom Thieves! Also I'm probably going to need some non-P5 charaters, since I can't even make a class with them, let along a whole year, so feel free to give me suggestions for those too! Anyway, hope you enjoy Chapter 1!

Akira Kurusu began to zone out as his teacher’s neck elongated towards another unfortunate classmate to pick their brains over another pointless question. And in this case, elongated _really_ meant elongated - it was an example of what were known as “quirks”; extraordinary abilities now possessed by around 80% of the Earth's population. At first quirks were few and far between, but as time went on (over the course of a few decades), quirks became ever more common, as with the rise of superhumans came the rise of superhuman heroes and villains. Heroes had, by this point, become a common thing in society, to the point where working for a licensed hero agency was technically a government worker position.

 

Akira jumped as a stick of chalk ricocheted off of his forehead, and pressed back into his chair as he spotted his teacher’s head protruding uncomfortably far over the front desk towards him, a mix of contempt and distaste in his expression.

“Kurusu-kun, we were just talking about everybody’s options for their future, but you’re not going to have many if you pay that little attention in your classes.” The head retracted slowly back until the teacher’s neck was at a more reasonable length. “Now, I’d ask what you’re all looking at for high school, but I expect that I’ll get the same answers as I do every year recently - you’re all looking at the hero course, aren’t you?” At this, almost the entire class erupted with cries of agreement as students flailed hands in the air and showed of their incredible abilities as far as they could without breaking anything. Akira, on the other hand, stared quietly into his desk. As the teacher calmed the class back down, he began to draw a sheet of paper out of a folder on his desk, and Akira sank further into his chair. “So, most of you are sticking around here at Shujin for the high school, but a few are going elsewhere. Kurusu-kun, you’re applying to UA, aren’t you?” Akira didn’t think he could shrink further into his chair, but somehow he managed it, as the entire class turned to stare at him.

“Kurusu? UA? Really?” a voice said from the other side of the room, followed by another piping up with “But… He’s…” The thought raced through Akira’s mind yet again - about 80% of the world’s population had some kind of superhuman “quirk”, but he was in the unlucky 20% who were…

“Quirkless!” someone yelled with glee, causing a large proportion of the class to burst into various attitudes of laughter, and also a few people to give Akira looks of pity. He placed his head on the desk, covered his head with his arms and tried to ignore the class’ chatter, at this point pretty much exclusively about him and his chances of getting into what was quite possibly the top hero school in the country. He caught one sentence though;

“Quirkless scum like him will never make UA. The practical exam will probably kill him. Hell, he wouldn’t even make _Shujin’s_ Hero Course, and he already goes here.” Luckily for Akira, the bell for the end of the day rang moments later, and he gathered his things as quickly as possible and bolted out the door at top speed.

 

/ / / / /

 

Akira sat in his darkened room, elbows on his desk and chin in his hands, his computer screen illuminating his face as he let YouTube autoplay endless videos of heroes in action, fighting villains and saving lives. His mind swirled with a mix of admiration, envy, longing and hopelessness, as he thought about how much he aspired to be like those professionals.

“It’s the best job in the world,” he muttered to himself, “getting to use your natural powers to help people in trouble, and stop the bad guys. It’s admirable, it would be exciting, and you get to do it all without having to do another job, unlike comic book superheroes.” He pulled his hands apart and dropped his head to the desk. “But they all say it can never happen for me, because either my quirk is pretty much useless, or I don’t have a quirk at all.” He sighed heavily, and let his hands fall to the desk. “They all say I should just give it up, but I can’t. I refuse to.” He jabbed the power button on his computer, and hauled himself over to his bed, and minutes later was fast asleep.

  


/ / / / /

 

Akira awoke what felt like only moments after he’d gone to sleep. He could tell something was off even before he opened his eyes - there was a strange feeling around his ankles, as if they were ringed with cold metal. The resistance and clanking noise that came when he pulled his knees towards his chest confirmed that yes, he was in fact chained up by his ankles. He opened his eyes and sat up, staring around bleary-eyed. He appeared to be in some kind of prison cell, after all, there were the chains, the bed bolter to the wall, and the barred door. And that fact that he was in the old-timey black and white striped prisoner’s outfit. However, the walls of the cell were made of… He reached out and touched it, and it was indeed velvet.

“What kind of prison has walls covered in velvet?” he asked the room in general.

“Welcome to the Velvet Room, young man.” The voice came from the darkness on the other side of the bars, and sounded like it belonged to an old man of high status. As he approached the bars, the darkness rolled back like a fog to reveal the room beyond.

 

It was large and circular, ringed with cells like his except for the entrance to a corridor on the far side. The walls were all covered in the same kind of blue velvet, and a simple radial pattern covered the floor. In the very centre of the room there stood an elaborate dark wood desk with a lamp, some paper and an ink pot complete with quill all sitting tidily on it, and behind it sat an old man, balding on top, with very aggressive eyebrows and a cartoonishly long nose. His eyes and mouth were in shade as he looked at his desk, but as he looked up to Akira, his large eyes and wide grin were revealed. To be perfectly honest, he looked rather creepy, but there was something about him that was calming, so rather than screaming to be released, Akira simply asked;

“Why am I here? And where exactly _is_ here?” The old man crooked his head to one side and answered;

“As I said before, this place is called the Velvet Room. My name is Igor, and the existence of the Velvet Room is as a result of my quirk.” Akira did a double take at hearing this, and Igor clearly noticed, because he chuckled. “You thought that quirks had only been around for a few decades, didn’t you? Well, that’s only as far as the majority of people know. Quirks have in fact existed for much longer than that. No-one is entirely sure for how long, but it’s certainly for a very long time.” Akira’s mind began to race as to what this information meant for his understanding of the world, by the mysterious Igor cut him short. “My quirk creates this space outside of waking reality, which I call the Velvet Room, for what are probably obvious reasons. Your normal physical body is not really here, although mine is. The velvet room is heavily linked to the mental realm, and so it becomes accessible to those I wish to access it through dreams, meditation, and trances.” Akira leant in closer to the bars.

“But that still doesn’t explain why I’m here, or why I’m dressed up like a prisoner,” he said through gritted teeth.

“Indeed,” said Igor, chuckling again; “You are here because you need assistance with a matter of the mind that you would find nigh-impossible to overcome alone. The chains and bars that bind you are self inflicted, with the unknowing assistance of those around you.” Akira opened his mouth, but again, Igor cut him off. “You believe yourself to be quirkless, but that is in fact inaccurate. It is simply that your quirk has been unable to manifest to this point.” This time, Akira managed to get a word in edgeways, yelling at the old man;

“But surely my quirk should have manifested by now? Even “late bloomers” manifest theirs by the age of five!”

“One thing you must understand, Kurusu-kun, is that the mind is a very powerful thing. You would likely have manifested your quirk shortly after the age of five, had you not been convinced of the idea that you were quirkless long before then. This thought had been heavily impressed upon you before your quirk could manifest, and your absolute belief in the truth of it repressed your quirk, despite your wanting wholeheartedly for it _not_ to be true. You asked why you are in chains and behind bars; it is the pseudo-physical manifestation of this mental prison you have created for yourself, locking away your quirk in the process.” Akira gripped the cell bars even harder, making his knuckles turn white.

“How can I free my quirk?” he asked desperately. The old man gave the same knowing chuckle that seemed to be his trademark response to questions.

“You already are by listening to me. Do you truly believe now that you might, after all, have a quirk?” Akira gave him a look of confusion, to which he said “Your right trouser pocket. What is in there?” Akira reached into his pocket, not expecting to find anything, but his fingertips instead found a small metal object. As he withdrew it, he saw it to be a miniscule key. “That key,” said Igor, “Is the first step towards unlocking the full potential of your quirk.” As he said that, the key grew slightly, making Akira jump and nearly drop it. At that moment, an idea flashed into his head, and he sat down, cross-legged, and jammed the key into the keyhole in the chains around his ankles. Almost a perfect fit, but not quite.

“I do have a quirk, I _do_ have a quirk, I _DO_ have a quirk!” he repeated to himself, over and over again, until after what felt like an eternity, the key suddenly fit. He hastily turned it, and the shackles sprang open. He quickly unlocked the other ankle the key and chains fading away as he did so, standing up with one of the greatest feelings of relief of his life.

“Excellent, excellent!” Igor said, his tone of voice conveying his pleasure at Akira’s success more than the grin that seemed permanently affixed to his face ever would. “There are further hurdles yet to overcome before you can fully wield the power you hold, but you have overcome the first of them. Now, return from this half-dream to your waking self, and continue the change you have begun.” Akira lay back down on the cell bed, somehow just knowing that that was what he was meant to do, closed his eyes, and began to drift off…

 

/ / / / /

 

Akira awoke to the sound of his alarm and the feeling of a familiar bed. At first he wasn't entirely sure whether the night's experience had been nothing more than a dream, but something did feel different. A sort of power coursed faintly through him,  and with it a renewed hope that maybe he wasn't useless after all. As he sat up he clenched a fist, and as he unclenched it he caught a glimpse of a wisp of something dark, almost like a black fog, swirl above his palm for a moment, before it dissipated. He smiled to himself. He could do this.

 

/ / / / /

 

Over breakfast, his mother asked him;

“Are you still going to go for that UA entrance exam? I need to confirm with Sojiro-san whether he can put you up overnight so that you can get plenty of rest the night before if you are.” Akira looked up from his bowl, cereal in his mouth and fire in his eyes.

“Abflutli.” His mother rolled her eyes;

“I'm sorry, what was that? Don't talk with your mouth that full please, I can't tell what you're saying!” Akira swallowed hard and repeated himself, clearly and determinedly;

“Absolutely.”

“I'm glad to see you've gained some conviction about this!” his mother replied. “You do know that it's fine, even if you don't make the Hero Course. You're still one of the brightest boys I know and I think you could easily make the support or general courses I'd you still wanted to go to UA but didn't pass the practical exam.”

"I _will_ pass the practical exam. I _have_ to.” Akira replied, fired up after his encounter with Igor the previous night.

“I'm proud you're that determined. I'll call Sojiro-san right now then.” She  got up from the table and walked over to the phone while Akira finished his breakfast, trying to remember what Sojiro-san was like, and wondering if he could stay with him for the whole term if he got in to UA.


	2. Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira arrives in central Tokyo, and meets some new people! We're so close to the really exciting stuff now! And some other stuff...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Give the notes and summary for the precious chapter a re-read, since the point from those still stand! But TL:DR - read/watch P5 and watch BNHA before reading, and suggestions for how to fill out classes beyond the Phantom Thieves roster are appreciated!
> 
> Oh, and thanks to Mellofricker for the advice she gave me for improving this chapter!

Akira sat on a train station bench, staring up the tracks, watching for his train. He lived quite far into the outskirts of Tokyo where housing was cheaper and therefore his parents could afford a pretty comfortable place, but it did mean that he had to catch the train in to Shujin academy every day. Today, however, he would not be going to Shujin, but instead to Yongen-Jaya, where Sojiro Sakura lived. Sojiro-san was an old friend of his parents’, and so he had agreed to let Akira stay with him overnight for the entrance exam so that he could get plenty of sleep the night before. Akira barely remembered anything about Sojiro, as he had not met up with Akira’s properly in years, and so the last time Akira had met him he’d been, what, six?

“Yeah, something like that,” Akira mused, “Seeing as last time I saw him everyone had accepted that I had no quirk. I wonder if he remembers that.” He looked down at his open hand, shifting his fingers around as he changed the shape and movement of the strange substance he could now generate. It was a swirling mix of black with a little dark red, and it seemed more like a liquid than smoke now. If he concentrated, he could also make it turn somewhat solid, trying this out by making it turn into a little cluster of spikes. At this point the sound of an approaching train fell upon his ears, so he closed his hand and let the substance vanish, and stood up, swinging his backpack on and walking towards the edge of the platform. A knowing little grin crossed his face as he realised that this train was about to carry him oh-so close to the UA entrance exam, no longer completely helpless.

 

/ / / / /

 

Akira squeezed through the press of bodies and off the train, now at Yongen-Jaya station. Sojiro should be waiting for him somewhere at the top of the escalator. He hoped he could remember what Sojiro looked like…

As it turned out, Akira could remember what he looked like, and this was helped by the fact that he stood out quite a lot in the pale pink shirt and white trilby.

“Akira? That is you, right?” he said, raising an eyebrow. “Your mother was right, you’ve grown a  _ lot _ since we last met. Well, follow me - it may not be far to my place, but I’ve brought the car anyway.” Sojiro’s tone of voice was neither friendly nor hostile - it was very simply neutral. Akira was worried that he’d already done something that annoyed Sojiro, so he launched straight into politeness;

“Thank you very much for coming to pick me up! You really needn’t have!” He simply got a;

“Hm. Not sure how easily you’ve found my house on your own. C’mon, let’s get in the car.” Once belted up, they drove in awkward silence for a little before Sojiro spoke up; “So last time I saw you, you still hadn’t manifested a quirk. Did you develop a quirk in the end then?” Akira flinched a little at the question before answering;

“Well, it’s rather complicated…”

“So that’s a no. Well, I’ll say it now, best of luck on the entrance exam, as little of a chance as you may stand.” After that little interaction, the rest of the car journey fell back into awkward silence.

 

/ / / / /

 

Getting out of the car, they walked down a side street and stopped outside a café with the name “Leblanc” in the main window.

“This is it,” said Sojiro, “Café Leblanc. The café is on the ground floor, and the “house” is the two floors above that. Come in and I’ll show you to your room for the night.” Sojiro turned his key in the lock and opened the door, accompanied by the gentle tinkle of a small bell, as expected of a small, rustic establishment such as Leblanc. As he entered, Akira thought he spotted a pair of eyes watching him from the top of the staircase, but only for a moment. He question Sojiro about this, but the only response this elicited was;

“Shop’s shut - there’s no-one here but us. You must be imagining things.” Akira didn’t entirely believe this - for one thing, Sojiro’s dismissal of the idea of another person in the building was almost  _ too _ quick. He let it go for now, and followed Sojiro upstairs.

“If you live alone, why are there this many bedrooms?” Akira asked. Sojiro visibly tensed at this, and stiffly answered;

“The rooms here came with the café. Also, I didn’t used to live alone.” He twisted a door handle and beckoned Akira after him as he entered the room. “This is where you’ll be sleeping for tonight. Don’t make yourself too comfortable, you’ll only be here for a night. As I said, I’d only put you up for longer if you made it onto the Hero Course. Well, everything you need will be on this floor or downstairs, so don’t bother going upstairs.” He walked out of the room, closing the door behind him, leaving Akira to unpack and mull on the implicit lack of faith in his ability to pass the entrance exam. Akira set his backpack down next to the room’s desk, opened it, pulled out his laptop and other study material, and took a seat. He needed to make absolutely sure he aced that theory test.

 

/ / / / /

 

The following morning, Akira stood in the gates to UA, entrance pass clutched tightly in his hand. The main building rose high into the sky, the glass frontage and angular shape cutting a formidable silhouette against the blue. He was full of energy, having had plenty of sleep and being more excited for this than pretty much anything in his life to that point. However, he was also incredibly nervous, since success or failure in this exam could well determine his entire future.

As he was staring, marvelling at the sight, he felt someone roughly barge past him. It was another boy of about his age, blond-haired, wearing a yellow t-shirt against the formal dress code set by UA for the exam, his jacket slung over his shoulder. He walked aggressively with his shoulders slightly hunched. He did not apologise to Akira, in fact, he barely seemed to have noticed him. At a second glance, Akira realised that his right arm and left leg were completely lacking in skin, muscle, or any other kind of flesh - they were purely skeletal, but could still move as if they were normal. Akira was pretty confident that this was part of his quirk.

“Hey there! Are you here for the entrance exam too?” a voice said from behind him. He turned round to see that in belonged to a slim blonde girl with a very cheery expression and friendly attitude, who wore a white hoodie under her jacket. “My name’s Ann! Ann Takamaki. What’s yours?”

“Akira Kurusu! Nice to meet you.” Akira replied, a smile spreading over his own face at the fact that someone was treating him like he was supposed to be there.

“Cool! So you're applying for the Hero Course, right?” Akira nodded in response. “What's your quirk? Mine is some basic enhancement to mobility and a little strength.”

“To be honest, I'd rather not discuss my quirk,” Akira responded, embarassed, “It's kind of awkward and a rather long story…”

“Oh, OK.” Ann seemed surprised and a little embarrassed herself. “Well anyway, I'm going for the Hero Course too, but to tell the truth, I'm rather nervous…” Ann tailed off and looked away, ceasing to smile and clutching her hands behind her back.

“It's OK to be nervous.” Akira reassured her. “I'm nervous too - in fact, most of the people here today are just as nervous as you are, perhaps even more so. Don't let nerves put you off!” Ann looked back at him, her bright smile back in force.

“Yeah, you're right! I can't be put off, not now I'm standing outside UA. Well, it's the theory exam before anything else, so let's just get through that first!”

“Agreed!” said Akira. “Best of luck to you on the whole exam!”

“Good luck to you too!” said Ann. “Well, no point in standing around out here much longer. I'm going inside.” She smiled at Akira again and wandered off, and as she went he spotted her feline tail waving behind her as she went.

As Akira began walking towards the front door himself, he spotted someone darting along the edge of the milling students. It was a red-headed girl, quite small, with big glasses. She had over-ear headphones on that looped around the back of her head, and the coat she wore instead of a school jacket was slightly too large for her, the sleeve ends hanging over her hands. Suddenly, she turned around and stared right at Akira for just a moment, and then vanished into the crowd. Akira was slightly confused by this, but he quickly forgot about it as he began a sending the front steps of UA. This was it. The entrance exam was almost upon him.


	3. All or Nothing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And now we have the first big event! The UA entrance exam! I wonder how this is gonna go down... Well I already know, but you don't yet! Enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was really fun to work through! I got to show off a couple of quirks properly in this one, which is neat. Also, before anyone else asks, Akira's quirk is based off of the Curse effect, the very first magic attack you get in Persona 5! Hope that Clara thing up!

The theory exam had now ended, and with the amount of revision he'd done for it, Akira was pretty confident of how well he'd done. A low chatter circulated around the lecture theatre they were all sat in, no doubt many of them discussing the theory paper. As he looked around the seated examinees, Akira could see plenty of uncertain or worried faces, but there were also a few overly confident expressions in the room. One girl in particular, with brown hair in a smart bob cut and striking red eyes had a confidence about her that said she knew she'd got 100% on the theory exam, and would probably score very highly on the practical exam too. As he was looking around, he spotted Ann, who also spotted him, and they waved to each other. 

Just then, the lights dimmed and the projector lit up, the UA school crest fading into view on the screen. Below it stood a teacher with one of the visually stranger quirks - he had a cat's head and was covered in black fur. He looked rather out of place in the suit he was wearing.

“Greetings, applicants to UA!” he said as he leaned in to the microphone on the podium. “My name is Morgana, and I will be running you through the details of what comes next. You've now all sat the theory part of the entrance exam, which I'm sure the majority of you will have been at least passable in. So now it's time for the practical test! Only the strongest, most effective heroes will come out on top in this part. Now, let me explain how this part of the exam works.” He tapped something on the podium, and the display changed to an aerial shot of what looked like a chunk of a city, walled off by enormous walls and surrounded by fields.

“This is a training arena. There are five of these, from A to E, so please check the details on the back of your entrance passes for which arena you will be examined in. Each, as you can see, is a scale reconstruction of a part of a city, in order to get a high-quality representation of urban combat. The “villains” you will be fighting today come in the form of robots, so holding back against them is not at all necessary. However, don’t destroy infrastructure unnecessarily - it is preferable, as a hero, not to do equally as much damage as the villains, if not more, in the process of stopping them.” As Morgana tapped the controls on the podium again, silhouettes faded onto the screen each with a number next to it.

“As you can see,” he continued, “There are four different types of enemies in the practical exam - three of them will score you from one to three “villain points” upon destroying them, whilst the fourth will score you nothing. This is because the enemies that can score you points are made to represent villains that you could feasibly handle alone, whilst zero-point villains are designed to represent a threat that it would be pointless to try to take on alone. If you run into a zero-point villain, it is advisable to not attempt to engage it, but instead to keep yourself in a combat-ready state by, well, running. There’s no shame in a tactical retreat, after all!” The next slide he brought up appeared to be soe kind of empty leaderboard.

“Ultimately, neither part of the entrance exam entirely outweighs the other, so you should aim to score as highly as possible on both parts! That means you’ll need to finish off as many scorable enemies as possible! This does not necessarily mean that those with the most destructive quirks will score the best on this exam, however, as a smaller but more trained power can often beat a larger but untrained power, so ensure that you use your quirks as effectively as possible.” He tapped the podium controls again, and the projector returned to the UA logo.

“Well, now that that’s done, you’ll be wanting to go and change into more suitable clothing for combat. All that’s left to say is that I wish you all the best of luck, and don’t forget everything it means to be a hero! Plus Ultra!”

 

/ / / / /

 

All the students sitting the entrance exam were standing outside their respective arena gates, in tracksuits for the most part, simply milling around and waiting for the starting horn to go. Akira was very nervous again, as whilst it had been hard to tell from the photo Morgana had shown on the presentation, the walls around the arena were enormous, towering well above the heights of many of the buildings around the part of Tokyo he lived in. He looked around the crowd for a moment to see if he could spot anyone he recognised. He couldn’t see Ann anywhere, but the blond boy who had bumped into him earlier was standing a little way off. He intrigued Akira, because he was just standing there restlessly, occasionally scuffing at the floor or staring up at the wall, not interacting with anyone else. It was almost as if he was as much of an outsider as Akira was, even though it felt like he should fit in here, very clearly having a quirk. At that point,  Akira thought he heard his name said behind him in a somewhat hushed tone, so he strained his ears to see if he could tell what was bing said.

“You know,” said one voice, “There’s a rumour going around that he’s actually quirkless.”

“Really?” said a second. “Then why is he even here?”

“Looks like a weirdo to me,” a third voice chimed in, “So he’s probably going for the exam because he’s a hero fanboy.” Whilst this was true, the tone it was said in was disparaging enough to sting a little.

“He actually seems fairly physically fit,” the first voice said, “But of course that’s gonna be useless here  if he doesn’t have a quirk.

“He’s gonna get absolutely flattened.” the third voice sneered. Akira wasn’t sure if that meant by the students or the enemies, but it didn’t really matter either way - it was clear that rumours that he was quirkless and therefore worthless had somehow circulated. Well, he’d just have to prove them all wrong.

“Excuse me?” said another voice from next to him. As he turned, he saw that it belonged to the very confident-looking girl he’d spotted in the exam hall earlier. She was eyeing him very critically. “There have been rumours floating around that you don’t have a quirk. I doubt that you’d be here if you didn’t have a quirk, but just so I can be certain, could you either confirm or deny these rumours?” Something about her confidence and intensity during her questioning unnerved Akira, so he was even more nervous when he replied.

“No..” he said tentatively, and his nervousness clearly showed, because her eyes narrowed. However, she seemed to default to politeness, as she then said;

“Well, best of luck with the entrance exam. If you do well enough, I may even see you at UA in term time.” She turned around slowly and wandered off into the crowd. However, her cold and clearly disapproving attitude did little to dampen Akira’s spirits.

“None of them believe in me. Except maybe that Ann girl, but then again she doesn’t know. Well, I’ll just have to double my resolve, and prove to them all that I  _ can _ be a hero!” As he said this, the starting horn sounded, causing all the students to turn quickly to face the towering gates as they swung inward to reveal a mockup street. This was it.

 

/ / / / /

 

Akira glanced around as he ran through the empty streets of the arena. The majority of students had gone straight down the middle with very few deviations, so he figured that by splitting off at the start he could warm up a bit and get a few easy points. He soon spotted a 1-point bot as he rounded a corner, and it spotted him too. The 1-point bots were surprisingly maneuverable, as this one demonstrated, dashing forward on its single when and raising a claw-like limb, ready to strike. Akira rolled out of the way, and as he came up into a low position flung his outstretched hand towards the bot. The red substance kept from his fingertips, forming into spikes which smashed thought its armour plating and rendered it nonfunctional. He rejoiced on this small victory of actually being able to use his new quirk properly, but this victory was short lived. He turned to find a 2-point bot, sturdier than a 1-point, right behind him and readying its beam weapon to blast him into the floor. Before it could do any damage, though, he heard a strange motorbike-esque noise, and moments later he spotted someone leaping from a glowing, transparent blue motorbike and barrelling into the bot while also wreathed in the same blue glow. As she got close, she leapt from her bike, which dissipated as soon as she left it, and pulled back a hand, the blue forcefield collecting around her fist in the form of a huge spiked knuckleduster, which she punched straight into the bot’s head, obliterating it. She landed adeptly, and turned to face Akira as she dusted herself down.

“So you  _ do _ actually have a quirk then.” she said, her face showing little expression. “You need to be more confident about it. Your nervousness will make people think you’re trying to hide quirklessness.” She held a hand out to one side, and the motorbike reformed again as she swung a leg over it, almost immediately lifting the other foot off the ground and speeding away.

“It’s all very well you saying that,” Akira said to himself as she rounded a corner, “But you have no idea what I’ve been through.”

 

/ / / / /

 

On his way back towards the central area of the arena, Akira managed to catch a few more bots, mostly 1-points but a couple of 2-points as well. However, as he emerged onto the central road, he began to feel like that meant nothing, as bots lay strewn all over in varying degrees of destruction, and as other students added to the piles of parts they called out point counts far higher than Akira’s measly few. There was little hope of him getting any more points in here, not that any more points could make much difference at this point, but as Akira crossed the street cautiously avoiding getting hit by both bots and students, aiming for another route out of the centre, a strange, ominous, rhythmic crash could be heard from a little way up the road. Everyone stopped, and as they all stared around looking for the source of the noise, an enormous leg stepped out from behind a building, and after it came a bot as large as the skyscraper it stood next to. The titanic quadruped had a very wide feet that could easily crush small crowds, and a humanoid body with fists the size of military trucks. The sight of it was terrifying, and almost every student that could see it did the sensible thing, and ran, some down the main road and some down side streets, but all at top speed, spurred on by an overpowering urge not to get crushed. Akira however, was paralysed, unable to do anything but stand there and just watch the slow advance of the 0-point bot, its footsteps shaking the whole arena centre. Suddenly, Akira realised he wasn’t the only one not running from the 0-pointer, as the boy who had barged past him earlier was flat on the ground, as in unconscious. The bot clearly noticed this too, as its huge, cyclopean head swung to face its downed target. Akira didn’t know why, but his body spontaneously forced itself into action running not away from the bot, but towards the boy it seemed intent on crushing the life out of. As he drew closer, he could see the the boy was missing his skeletal arm and leg, and so was completely unable to move out from under the bot’s slowly raising forearm with fist down. He reached the boy just as the bot began to drop its fist towards the ground with terrifying force. Akira threw his hands up and put everything he had into his quirk, just one phrase running through his mind - “And remember what it means to be a hero!”

From even a short distance, someone might not have know what had happened at first, as there was a tremendous sound of rending metal as the bot’s fist seemed to come to a stop just above the ground. Then suddenly, a huge, deep red spike smashed its way through the top of the gigantic elbow, sending small shards of armour plating flying all over. More and more smaller spikes of red then began to puncture out all over the bot’s forearm, unrelenting until the limb exploded violently and spectacularly, sending out a tremendous shockwave and causing the bot to reel, the lights of its eyes slowly fading. As the dust faded Akira could be seen, still holding his hands upwards, head down, the red receding back into his palms. As the last of it dissipated, he collapsed on top of of the boy, completely unconscious and exhausted. The boy propped himself up underneath the limp Akira, staring at him with eyes wide in amazement and confusion. At that, the horn went, cutting through the chaos to signal the end of the exam.


	4. Results

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, the aftermath of the entrance exam. If you've watched (or read) Boku no Hero Academia, you probably know what's coming next, but I hope you enjoy it regardless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fuck. I swear I'm not dead, I'm just appalling at organisation and loaded up with school work I don't want to do. Sorry if you were expecting regularity with this fic, it just ain't gonna happen, but I'll do my best.

Akira as if he had gone to sleep normally, but with no memory of having done so. The bedsheet was coarser than the one at Sojiro’s house… Where was he? The place had a familiar atmosphere. He opened his eyes and sat up, now realising he was back in the “Velvet Room”. He turned towards the cell door, and Igor was indeed visible, sitting at his table in almost exactly the same position as the last time Akira saw him. “It’s as if he’s bolted in place” Akira thought as he stood up and walked towards the bars.

“So, why am I here now? I unlocked my quirk, didn’t I?” he addressed Igor.

“It is true that you have begun to open up the part of you that held your quirk back for all these years, but you have not fully realised its full potential. However, the true extent of your power has not been unlocked yet.”

“I really just don’t understand what you’re saying,” Akira said, head shaking slowly, “I have a quirk now! I’ve used it! What more is there?”

“It matters not, for that is not why I have brought you here for now.” Igor’s ever-present grin widened slightly. “I wanted to congratulate you on gaining such mastery over the Cursed Blade power in such little time, and using it to such great effect in your entrance exam.”

“What the hell is Cursed Blade? And how do you know what happened in the entrance exam?”

“Cursed Blade is simply the name I have decided to refer to that power by,” Igor said as he gestured a little with one hand, “And as for your entrance exam, I have my ways of observing the fully material world from the Velvet Room, but I think it would take a little too long to explain.” Akira went to lie back down, too tired to try comprehending what the old man was saying and just wanting to leave the velvet room, but Igor motioned to him to stop.

“Before you return to reality, take a brief look around you. What do you notice about the room in which you sit?” That made Akira realise that something did feel off about the cell, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it, until…

“It’s  _ larger _ . Why is it larger? What on earth is this place?” Akira grasped his head, utterly confused.

“The Velvet Room is not  _ on _ Earth, to begin with. Remember, being between reality and a dream, the form of the velvet room responds to the mental state of its occupants. You have expanded the use of your quirk, and so the cell that represents your mental restrictions has grown accordingly. Now, I believe you wanted to return to reality.” Akira just sighed and laid back down, and was quickly back asleep.

 

/ / / / /

 

Akira doubted he’d ever quite get over that feeling of waking up by going to sleep. Maybe that’s what it was like to teleport - simultaneously fading out of one world and into another. As his mind began to gain a proper hold on reality, eyes still closed, he realised that he  _ hurt _ . It wasn’t a specific pain, it was just there, all throughout his body. Not everything was necessarily excruciating, but every single inch of his body hurt in some way. Eventually he managed to force his eyes open just a little, but his vision was blurry and he could only see a white haze. As he closed his eyes again with a groan, he could hear a familiar voice from somewhere to his right, although it was slightly muffled.

“Thank god you’re awake,” the voice said, “I really don’t know what I would have told your mother if you hadn’t woken up before I was supposed to be sending you home.” Despite the pain, Akira forced his head to turn to face the voice, and managed to open his eyes properly. As things swam into focus he could make out Sojiro, leaning forward concernedly in his chair. He sighed and shook his head. Akira began to try to prop himself into a sitting position but Sojiro motioned to him to stop.

“The doctor told me to stop you from trying to do much before she has a chance to see you. You completely exhausted yourself during that entrance exam.”

“The… Doctor?” Akira rasped.

“Yeah, you’re in UA’s medical wing.” Sojiro told him. I should really let her know that you’re awake.”

“That won’t be necessary,” another voice, female and sharp, cut in, “I’d come back to check up him anyway.” The doctor was tall and slender, with short, blue dyed hair, wearing the fairly standard doctor’s coat with the addition of jet black high heels and a spike-studded black choker. She looked like a strange mix between professional hospital doctor and dodgy backstreet fixer-upper. She was also carrying a large mug of coffee in one hand and a clipboard in the other.

“I’m Doctor Tae Takemi, and as I suspect Mr Sakura has told you I am UA’s chief medical officer. Now, let’s get you up and about.” She set the clipboard to one side, and promptly necked the entire mug of coffee in seconds. Setting the mug down too, she rubbed her hands together, a slight golden glow emanating from between them. As she pulled them apart Akira could see that she held a small pill in one hand, still emanating the faint gold glow.

“Water?” Doctor Takemi asked him, and he simply nodded gently in response. SHe dropped the pill into a glass of water that stood on his bedside table, along with the possessions he’d brought to the exam day.

“This particular medicine is far more effective when ingested, so I waited until you were awake before treating you properly.” Akira tipped his head back, letting the water take the pill down his throat, and shortly felt an odd sensation spreading throughout his body. It was as if the pain was just being broken down, or dissolved, or discorporated.

“Medicinal Generation. My quirk. With sufficient food and energy in my system, I can generate the widest range of remedies on the planet, even those not obtainable by lab processes. A medical job was kind of inevitable, and the one at UA is a good one. You should be able to get up in the next couple of minutes. But if UA does offer you a place, please don’t do that too much - I’m trying to cut down on the caffeine.” After her little monologue, the doctor turned and walked off her attitude neither comforting or negative, just… tired.

 

/ / / / /

 

Sojiro left the room and held it open for Akira, who was now fully clothed and mostly functional, if a little bruised. The blond boy who Akira had protected during the entrance exam, arm and leg now back in place, got up from his position seated on the floor as the door opened, and ambled awkwardly over to Akira.

“I dunno if you remember me but…” He held out a tentative skeletal hand. “Sakamoto. Ryuji Sakamoto.” Akira shook his hand and returned the formalities; “I'm Akira Kurusu.”

“Well, Akira, I just wanted to say… Thanks for doing what you did for me back there. Even though the school was never gonna  _ kill _ us, well, you still saved my ass. If anyone deserves place at this damn school, it's you.” He released the handshake and turned to leave, but paused for a moment. “See you on the first day of term, assuming I get in, that is.” He walked off down the corridor, shoulders hunched, hands in pockets.

“Who was that guy?” Sojiro asked once Ryuji was safely out of earshot.

Akira responded with a question; “Did Doctor Takemi tell you why I was in that state earlier?”

“She told me that you completely drained yourself by overusing your quirk. Congratulations on finally manifesting that, by the way. From what I've heard it's very impressive.”

“Well,” Akira said slowly, “I kinda did that protecting him while he was incapacitated and about to be punched into the ground by an enormous robot. I tore the robot's arm to pieces and then collapsed on top of him. Now that I come to think about it that last part was pretty awkward.” Sojiro’s eyes widened and his eyebrows slid up his forehead.

“Wow. You'd better be careful with that quirk then - if you break something with it, offer or no you're not staying at mine. Well anyway, we should be off. You were out for so long that it's actually nearing evening.” Akira pulled out his phone and looked at the time - the clock on it read 17:00. That meant, going on when the practical exam was supposed to end…

“Over six hours. That attack really did drain me.” He said to no-one in particular. He then turned to Sojiro; “What's for dinner? Being physically drained makes you  _ really _ hungry.”

“I hope you weren't expecting anything fancy - you're not definitely into UA yet. I was just going to make the basic curry I serve in the café.” He began to walk off down the corridor towards the exit. “C’mon, car's outside. I'd rather not wait around here.” He motioned for Akira to follow him, a gesture which was obeyed a little slowly and with some slight aches.

As it turned out later on, Sojiro's curry was possibly the best Akira had ever tasted.

 

/ / / / /

 

A few days after the madness of the entrance exams, Akira was sitting in his bedroom, door locked, an envelope clutched tightly in his hands. Is name and address were printed neatly on the front, and the UA insignia was emblazoned brightly on the back. He sat crouched in his chair for a long time, turning the envelope over and looking at the logo, then back and looking at his name, again and again. More than one he moved to open it, but couldn’t quite persuade himself to. After what felt like hours, he finally gritted his teeth and tore the envelope, letting  _ two _ letters fall out onto his desk. The first was a typed letter, the second handwritten. Akira picked up the typed letter and unfolded it. The main text read:

 

> Mr Kurusu,
> 
> UA High School’s grading panel is very pleased to offer you a place on next year’s Hero Course. We determined you to be one of the best candidates of the hundreds who have applied, and would be more than happy to have you train as a hero with the others lucky enough to also be offered a place.
> 
> Please respond as soon as is convenient for you with a simple reply either accepting or denying the offer within the next two weeks so that we can make proper preparations internally. The address to reply to can be found at the bottom of this letter. If you accept then you will receive further details on when terms starts and what we expect of you.
> 
> Again, congratulations on coming in the top bracket of students applying for UA. We hope to see you with us on the first day of term.
> 
> Yours sincerely,
> 
> The UA High Grading Panel
> 
> Plus Ultra!

 

Akira stayed in stunned silence for a moment, unable to quite believed what he had just read. As it dawned on him that  _ yes, he’d done it, he’d gotten into UA _ , a broad grin spread over his face.

“I…” he whispered, before throwing his hand into the air, the letter clutched in triumph. “I did it!” he yelled, which prompted a relieved sigh from the other side of the door, where he now realised his mother had been waiting nervously the entire time. He sat back down at the desk, and picked up the other letter. The handwriting was very neat, and though thin and elaborate it was perfectly legible. It read as such:

 

> _ Dear Mr Kurusu, _
> 
> _ Your display during the entrance exam was highly impressive, especially considering that up to now you have been officially listed as not having a quirk. Whilst you are under no obligation to, I would appreciate it if you would come to talk to me on the first day of term, assuming that you accept the offer of a place. I am sure that it would be a most informative conversation for both of us. _
> 
> _ Back to the topic of the entrance exam, you may be wondering why you passed despite not scoring as many “villain points” as some of the other applicants. As is no doubt evident to you, a hero’s job does not consist exclusively of combatting villains. During the entrance exam, you above all other applicants exhibited the trait necessary for any hero - willingness to save and protect others even in the face of personal risk. Your use of your quirk was not only a display of power but also one of courage and selflessness. _
> 
> _ To account for such events, “villain points” are not the only kind of points available in the entrance exam - “rescue points” are also present without telling applicants as a way of measuring their natural tendency to act selflessly as is required of a hero. If you were curious, you scored the maximum number of “rescue points” it is possible to score. _
> 
> _ My sincerest of congratulations on passing the entrance exam. I am sure you will fare excellently in the Hero Course if our choose to accept. _
> 
> _ Miss Lavenza _
> 
> _ Hero Course teacher and tutor at UA High _

 

Akira carefully folded the letter from Miss Lavenza back up and placed it in the centre of his desk. That was it, that was his reason, his drive for becoming a hero. To help people. To protect and save others. As far as he was concerned, it would be hard for him to have a better aspiration in life.

This was it. He'd done it. He was going to UA.


End file.
